Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, has denied that he struck his then-girlfriend over a decade ago in the belief she was flirting with another man.
“This report is untrue,” an Emhoff spokesperson told Semafor, adding that “any suggestion that he would or ever hit a woman is false.”
Mr. Emhoff is playing a key role on his wife’s campaign and is traveling to swing states this week, giving remarks and doing interviews in support of her candidacy.
During a recent interview, MSNBC host and former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told Mr. Emhoff that he “reshaped the perception of masculinity.” However, the host did not ask Mr. Emhoff to address his admitted affair with his daughter’s nanny and teacher, which caused his prior divorce more than a decade ago.
According to reporting by the Daily Mail, citing three unidentified friends of the unnamed girlfriend, Mr. Emhoff allegedly slapped his then paramour with so much force she “spun around” after the couple attended a charity gala at Hotel Du Cap in the south of France in 2012.
A friend of the woman said that she called him immediately following the incident, crying in the taxi, and described the alleged assault that had taken place.
“It was hard to hear her because she was sobbing,” he told The Daily Mail. “She told me she was with a guy and he hit her.”
The ex-girlfriend, a New York attorney whom the Daily Mail referred to by the pseudonym “Jane,” provided travel documents to prove she and Mr. Emhoff spent time together at the location during the alleged incident. She also provided a photo of herself with Mr. Emhoff, in which the outlet blurred out her face.
Another friend of Jane’s, a female lawyer, told The Daily Mail that Jane told her of the alleged incident at the time.
“’She said he turned her around by her right shoulder, and she was completely caught off guard. He hauled up and slapped her so hard she spun around. She said she was in utter shock,” she said.
“She was so furious, she slapped him on one side, and then on the other cheek with the other hand,” she said.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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